Largely unseen photos of MLK’s killer unveiled

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Long-forgotten photos that show James Earl Ray being brought to jail after his arrest for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. were unveiled Wednesday to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader’s death.

In this 1968 photo released Wednesday, March 30, 2011 by the Shelby County Register's office, authorities escort James Earl Ray to the Shelby County, Memphis, Tenn. jail. Long forgotten photos documenting the incarceration of James Earl Ray after his arrest for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. will be posted online as early as Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader's death. (AP Photo/Shelby County Register's office)

In this 1968 photo released Wednesday, March 30, 2011 by the Shelby County Register's office, a deputy, right, pats down James Earl Ray, in the Shelby County, Memphis, Tenn. Long forgotten photos documenting the incarceration of James Earl Ray after his arrest for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. will be posted online as early as Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader's death. (AP Photo/Shelby County Register's office)

Dozens of the striking black-and-white photos, along with letters Ray wrote from jail and other documents, were found in 2007 among old county records in a warehouse in east Memphis, Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood said. A few photos were posted on The Commercial Appeal’s website to accompany a story published Wednesday, and Leatherwood planned to make the rest available on a county website later in the day.

One of the photos shows Ray being patted down by an officer with his back to the camera and his arms spread out wide. Another shows the bespectacled Ray being led into the jail in handcuffs, wearing what appears to be a bullet-proof vest.

Leatherwood said the documents don’t offer any startling new revelations about the assassination, but do provide a detailed snapshot of a pivotal moment in the nation’s civil rights history. Most were never seen by the public. Leatherwood tried for about three years to make them available, and the county attorney approved their release six weeks ago, he told The Associated Press.

Then-Shelby County Sheriff Bill Morris had the photos taken to document that Ray wasn’t being mistreated when he was booked into the jail for the April 4, 1968, shooting death of King in Memphis. Ray was arrested about two months after the shooting.

Ray died in prison in 1998, but he had signed a document authorizing their release in the late 1970s, Leatherwood said.

“I hope they rekindle the memory of the civil rights movement,” Leatherwood told the AP. “A lot of the memories of the civil rights movement are being lost or people are taking the civil rights movement for granted. People did sacrifice their lives to that movement.

“Of course, Dr. King is the perfect example of that,” Leatherwood said.

The photos were taken by Memphis photographer Gil Michael, who was an employee of Memphis State University at the time. One picture showing Morris escorting Ray into the jail was given to the news media. The other photos were sealed, and the sheriff’s office kept the negatives.

Letters Ray wrote to his lawyers and family from the Shelby County Jail, where he spent eight months before pleading guilty, also were part of the newly-seen documents. So are investigators’ notes; a hand-drawn map of the Lorraine Motel where King was killed; and an article from Reader’s Digest entitled “Greatest Manhunt in Law Enforcement History.”

The archive also includes photos of Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. They wereacquired by Morris in 1968 as he researched security techniques.

Morris said he didn’t want Ray killed while he was sheriff.

“On April the 4th, 1968, our whole culture of life in Memphis changed,” Morris told the newspaper. “Everything changed.”

In this 1968 photo released Wednesday, March 30, 2011 by the Shelby County Register's office, Sheriff William N. Morris Jr., second from left, and deputies process James Earl Ray, at right, in the Shelby County, Memphis, Tenn. Long forgotten photos documenting the incarceration of James Earl Ray after his arrest for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. will be posted online as early as Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader's death. (AP Photo/Shelby County Register's office)

In this 1968 photo released Wednesday, March 30, 2011 by the Shelby County Register's office, James Earl Ray is seen in the Shelby County, Memphis, Tenn. Long forgotten photos documenting the incarceration of James Earl Ray after his arrest for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. will be posted online as early as Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader's death. (AP Photo/Shelby County Register's office)

In this 1968 photo released Wednesday, March 30, 2011 by the Shelby County Register's office,James Earl Ray is seen in the Shelby County, Memphis, Tenn., jail. Long forgotten photos documenting the incarceration of James Earl Ray after his arrest for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. will be posted online as early as Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader's death. (AP Photo/Shelby County Register's office)

In this 1968 photo released Wednesday, March 30, 2011 by the Shelby County Register's office, Sheriff William N. Morris Jr., left, escorts James Earl Ray, at right, in the Shelby County, Memphis, Tenn., jail. Long forgotten photos documenting the incarceration of James Earl Ray after his arrest for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. will be posted online as early as Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader’s death. (AP Photo/Shelby County Register's office)

Matt Dayhoff

Matt Dayhoff started as a photographer for the Journal Star in 1992 shortly after graduating from the Ohio University School of Visual Communications. In 2009, he moved into the newsroom as an online editor and producer and is now responsible for helping manage and edit much of the editorial content on pjstar.com.